Difference between revisions of "Man-centeredness"

Latest revision as of 15:51, 16 July 2022

Man-centeredness

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)

The wickedness of the church of Laodicea proceeds from a false image—the image of man as the center of the universe and God as the means by which man becomes that center. The spirit of Laodicea abounds in the Christian churches of today.

The true saints of Christ will never be satisfied with the Laodicean churches. They understand that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not a plan for the advancement of mankind but the witness of the coming of God's Kingdom and the doing of God's will in the earth.

We now are approaching the age of Laodicea, the era when man, apart from God, attains the climax of his exaltation on the earth. The people of today are in love with themselves and increasingly are concerned with their "rights"—much more than they are with the rights of God or His Christ. Men are lovers of themselves, as Paul prophesied. Humanism is the religion of the hour. The Laodicean "gospel" does not look to the coming world of righteousness but concentrates on making the present world safe and comfortable for Christians.

The emphasis on man and his comfort and pleasure has entered the thinking of Christian people. The unscriptural doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture, with its emphasis on not allowing the believers to suffer, fits well into a humanistic, man-centered civilization.

In our time the Gospel of Christ is being preached as the God-given means of making people happy. It is taught that through Christ we can be prosperous and at ease in the present world. Through grace we shall enter Paradise when we die even though we have not been a true disciple of Christ. None of this is true.

The concept is widely held among Christians that Christ suffered so we will not be required to suffer. The truth is, we Christians are called to suffer much for the Kingdom of God.

Christ suffered in order to redeem mankind from the authority and power of Satan, not in order that people may live merrily in the world and still have fellowship with God. Through Christ we can be transformed so our behavior no longer merits Divine wrath. The process of transformation includes much pain and perplexity, much tribulation.

Christ spoke to the Laodiceans about the need for their faith to be tested in the fires of tribulation:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; . . . . (Revelation 3:18)

Self-centered Christianity would not be widespread if men were not becoming lovers of themselves. The believers would be better able to discern the present errors.

As we examine the Word of Christ to the church of the Laodiceans we can recognize the characteristics of some of the churches of our own time.

The church of the Laodiceans represents, according to our understanding, the type of Christianity that will be common during the great tribulation and the reign of Antichrist. Since we are drawing near to this last era we can in our own day observe many of the flaws of the church of the Laodiceans.

Continued. Man-centeredness 2

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-====Man-centeredness 3====
+====Man-centeredness ====
-And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. (Revelation 17:16)
+And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)
-Antichrist is the effort to make man the center of the universe. The False Prophet is the spirit of religious deception, the attempt of people acting in their own soulish wisdom and strength to imitate the power and righteousness of Christ. The False Prophet will assist Antichrist in setting up a one-world government.
+The wickedness of the church of Laodicea proceeds from a false image—the image of man as the center of the universe and God as the means by which man becomes that center. The spirit of Laodicea abounds in the Christian churches of today.
-The False Prophet is Christianity minus the personal cross of the believer.
+The true saints of Christ will never be satisfied with the Laodicean churches. They understand that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not a plan for the advancement of mankind but the witness of the coming of God's Kingdom and the doing of God's will in the earth.
-In the end, the kings of the earth who give their power and strength to Antichrist will make Babylon "desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." This means that the forces of the world finally will turn against the huge Christian organization. By that time the worldly church will have become wealthy and powerful, a threat to Antichrist. Until then, Babylon and Antichrist will join hands in the effort to corrupt the Wife of the Lamb.
+We now are approaching the age of Laodicea, the era when man, apart from God, attains the climax of his exaltation on the earth. The people of today are in love with themselves and increasingly are concerned with their "rights"—much more than they are with the rights of God or His Christ. Men are lovers of themselves, as Paul prophesied. Humanism is the religion of the hour. The Laodicean "gospel" does not look to the coming world of righteousness but concentrates on making the present world safe and comfortable for Christians.
-Laodicea received no praise from the Lord. Yet it was one of the seven lampstands of God and can attain the throne of Christ if it repents and serves Christ.
+The emphasis on man and his comfort and pleasure has entered the thinking of Christian people. The unscriptural doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture, with its emphasis on not allowing the believers to suffer, fits well into a humanistic, man-centered civilization.
-Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the institutional spirit of Babylon never were and never shall be of God. The spirit of Babylon is revealed in the Catholic Church and in her daughters, the Protestant churches. They all are spiritual prostitutes, selling their favors in the attempt to please the world.
+In our time the Gospel of Christ is being preached as the God-given means of making people happy. It is taught that through Christ we can be prosperous and at ease in the present world. Through grace we shall enter Paradise when we die even though we have not been a true disciple of Christ. None of this is true.
-None of the seven churches of Revelation, Chapters Two and Three, is the Wife of the Lamb. The members of the Wife of the Lamb are the victorious saints in the seven churches, and in the last days these victorious saints will be separated from the churches on the earth.
+The concept is widely held among Christians that Christ suffered so we will not be required to suffer. The truth is, we Christians are called to suffer much for the Kingdom of God.
-The purpose of the great tribulation is to pressure each of the Lord's chosen people to such an extent he or she becomes part of the holy minority. Those who do not become part of the end-time holy remnant will take their place in the Laodicean majority, will become part of Babylon, and will "drink of the wine of the wrath of God" (Revelation 14:10).
+Christ suffered in order to redeem mankind from the authority and power of Satan, not in order that people may live merrily in the world and still have fellowship with God. Through Christ we can be transformed so our behavior no longer merits Divine wrath. The process of transformation includes much pain and perplexity, much tribulation.
-No middle ground is acceptable or even possible. The way of the Lord must be made straight.
+Christ spoke to the Laodiceans about the need for their faith to be tested in the fires of tribulation:
-The Lord Jesus appears in a different manner to each of the seven churches. The way in which He comes to each church has to do with the issues associated with the particular church.
+I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; . . . . (Revelation 3:18)
-Notice how the Lord Jesus appears to Laodicea:
+Self-centered Christianity would not be widespread if men were not becoming lovers of themselves. The believers would be better able to discern the present errors.
-As the Amen.
+As we examine the Word of Christ to the church of the Laodiceans we can recognize the characteristics of some of the churches of our own time.
-As the faithful and true Witness.
+The church of the Laodiceans represents, according to our understanding, the type of Christianity that will be common during the great tribulation and the reign of Antichrist. Since we are drawing near to this last era we can in our own day observe many of the flaws of the church of the Laodiceans.
-As the Beginning of the creation of God.
+Continued. [[Man-centeredness 2]]
-The Amen
+[[Category:Sermons WOR]]
-The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Amen" of God. Jesus always affirms all that God Is, all that God has spoken, all that God wills and plans. In Christ there is no wavering whatsoever. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20).
-We Christians also are to be the Amen of God. Whatever God has stated, that is what is true as far as we are concerned. There is to be no doubting, no wavering. No matter what our surroundings seem to indicate is true we are to hold fast to what God has spoken.
-Continued. [[Man-centeredness 4]]